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Employees that possess effective communication skills are less apt to misinterpret information passed along to them by their supervisors, colleagues or clients, ensuring more accurate transactions and higher productivity. Improving listening skills among work teams through various activities can help these teams learn how to better influence, persuade and negotiate amongst themselves and others.

Story Telling

One activity that can help work teams build listening skills is similar to the games played on the television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Team members should sit in circle and one person should be chosen as the leader of the team. That person decides on a topic for a story and begins the story by providing the first sentence. Going in order, each team member must pick up the story where his colleague left off, which makes it imperative to listen intently and follow the theme of the story.

Telephone

Hearkening back to childhood when this game was played with neighborhood friends, the game "Telephone" can help sharpen the listening skills of work teams in any industry. Employees must line up in a row and the first person should be given a sentence to whisper to the next person in line. That person then whispers whatever she heard to the next person in line, and so on until the final person in line has received the message. The way to measure the listening skills of the team is to determine how the statement changed as it was passed from player to player.

Building Bridges

Teaching teams how to work together and listen to each other is the objective of an activity that Executive Essentials refers to as "Building Bridges." It requires the use of Toobeez or a similar building toy like Legos or Tinker Toys. Teams should be split into two groups and each group instructed to build half of a bridge without looking at the other team's progress. The objective is to be able to connect the two bridges at the end using only one more piece.

Mine Field

One team activity that helps to enhance listening skills while also building trust among colleagues is a game called "Mine Field," according to the skills training organization Mind Tools. This activity requires a large space because various obstacles, like chairs, pillows and boxes need to be scattered about, leaving enough room for a person to walk in between the objects. Teams should be divided in pairs and one member blindfolded. This person will be challenged to navigate the mine field using only the verbal instructions of his teammate as guidance, heightening his dependence on his listening skills and trust in his teammates.